Open Book
by Misanagi
Summary: Relena looks out the window, and remembers.


**Open Book**

**By Misanagi**

Rating: PG

Pairing: 5xR

Summary: Relena looks out the window, and remembers.

Archive: Gundanium Line.

Notes: Gift ficlet written for Haraamis. Merry Christmas!

Thanks a lot to Anne for the beta!

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She could see him through the window. He was talking with some Preventer, surely giving him instructions for the event that afternoon. There was a small wind, blowing slowly on the clear day, and making one of his locks fall repeatedly into his face. Wufei used his left hand to get the hair out of his line of vision over and over again, and a small frown of irritation was already forming on his forehead.Â

Relena smiled and took another sip of tea. There was something about that gesture that made her smile. Wufei could be easily irritated by small things like the wind, but he could also be very patient in other circumstances. He would stand quietly behind Relena, watching over her while she spent day after day immersed in political debates. When Relena herself was tired, and just about to ignore every political maneuver she had learnt, to slap one idiotic senator or another, Wufei would simply put a hand over her shoulder, calming her instantly. For some things, Wufei had the patience of a saint, but a couple of Dorothy's comments or Duo's teasing would have him frowning so much that Relena wondered if it wasn't painful to keep the face muscles in that position for so long.

That was what had attracted Relena to him in the first place. Wufei was a long book waiting to be read. Every page, every word revealed a little something different about him, and when she reread a passage or a chapter she found that even if the words didn't change, her perceptions did. Wufei was a man to be discovered over and over again.

She remembered when she first saw him. The last piece of Libra had just been destroyed, and the Gundams had landed on MOIII. They had all arrived at the same time; the other pilots had waited for Heero before leaving the battle field. She had learnt that by then they had become a team, and they weren't about to leave one of their own.

Relena had run to the docking bay, wanting to see for herself that Heero was alive and well. The first one to emerge had been Trowa. She recognized him from the photos she had seen. He hadn't even glanced at her; he just headed for the cockpit of another Gundam. Quatre had been inside, almost bleeding to death and remaining conscious by share will power. Relena cared for Quatre, and even though she and Dorothy had become friends, Relena hadn't yet managed to forgive her for almost killing Quatre.

Duo had jumped down next. He had grinned at her, and waved. Then he had followed Trowa to the medical bay. Wufei had emerged then. He had that disinterested look on his face that Relena had learnt so well over the years. It was his blank expression, the one he wore when he was overwhelmed by emotions, and he didn't want anyone to know. She hadn't paid much attention to him. Back then she only had eyes for Heero.

She laughed a little. Heero Yuy had been her first crush. A knight fallen from the sky. He had changed her life and her perceptions, and for those long months of war, where she had changed from being a simple school girl to a princess, a captive and a queen, Heero had been the model of strength she had followed. In the year between the wars and the Marimeia rebellion she had learnt to find her own strength. When Heero had come again to save her, she had seen him through different eyes. That was how they had managed to remain friends. He wasn't a hero anymore. You can admire and respect heroes, but you can't befriend them. It was when Relena realized that Heero was a person, that she allowed herself to love him, truly love him, and understood that she only loved him as a friend.

Heero had spent two years as her bodyguard. Relena loved his company, and nothing made her feel safer that having a former Gundam pilot, and a friend, guarding her. However, she had seen in Heero's eyes that following her to political conferences wasn't what he wanted to do in life. She tried to give him hints to follow his own path, but some sense of duty kept Heero by her side. Finally, after a visit from Duo, Relena decided to fire him. If Duo hadn't been there, Heero would have probably refuse stubbornly, but Duo had helped assure him that Relena would be well protected. That was how Wufei hand entered her life.

There were only a few people in the world that Heero trusted with Relena's life, and Wufei was one of them. Relena still didn't know how it had happened, but two days after she had fired Heero, Wufei showed on her office door, and informed her that he was to be her new chief of security. That was the first time they had spoken to each other, and the first time they had argued. Relena liked to be in control of her life, and her employees, and Wufei didn't think of Relena as his boss. In the end, Heero had said that she either let Wufei handle her security or he was not leaving, so she reluctantly accepted.

The arguments between Relena and Wufei were a common thing, but as time went by, they became friendlier. Relena enjoyed having someone intelligent to whom she could talk to, and who wouldn't agree with everything she said for fear of losing his job. Wufei had sneaked into her heart little by little, without her noticing it, until one day she looked at him and realized that she was in love, and that this time, it was true love.

Wufei had made the first move, which surprised her a lot. They had been having dinner in the dining room, like they did every night she didn't have an event to attend. In a moment of uncharacteristic clumsiness Relena had managed to spill some of her wine on herself. Wufei had chuckled, grabbed a napkin from the table and used it to help her clean her blouse. It was an unexpected touch, so Relena just stared at him, waiting for something to happen, and it did. Wufei had looked at her, and kissed her.

Relena's tea was cold. She didn't know how long she had been standing at the window, looking at Wufei, and thinking. The man Wufei had been talking to was gone, and Wufei was looking up. The frown had disappeared, and he was smiling at her. She smiled back and sent him a kiss. He raised an eyebrow and walked towards the house. After a few moments, Relena could hear his steps getting closer. Wufei wasn't one to send kisses... he liked to deliver them in person.

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- The End - 


End file.
